Systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network to a peripheral device via a local advertisement server

ABSTRACT

Certain exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network to one or more peripheral devices at a location via a local advertisement server. In certain exemplary embodiments, the local advertisement server within a location receives advertisements from the central advertisement network and rebroadcasts them to peripheral devices within that location. Advertising information may be tracked and reported, e.g., for accounting, revenue-sharing, and/or other purposes in certain exemplary embodiments. Thus, in certain exemplary embodiments, the distribution of advertisements is provided to peripherals via a non-web- and non-PC-dependent network. Moreover, in certain exemplary embodiments, reporting and advertising related communications are substantially bi-directional regardless of device type. Certain exemplary embodiments provide revenue sharing among some or all of the central advertising network provider, the proprietors of locations, operators tasked with maintaining the local ad server and/or the peripheral devices, etc.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/670,553filed Nov. 7, 2012, now allowed, which is a continuation of applicationSer. No. 12/318,864 filed Jan. 9, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,332,887,which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/006,382 filedJan. 10, 2008, the entire contents of each of which are herebyincorporated by reference in this application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems and/ormethods for distributing advertisements to one or more peripheraldevices. More particularly, certain exemplary embodiments relate tosystems and/or methods for distributing advertisements from a centraladvertisement network to one or more peripheral devices at a locationvia a local advertisement server. In certain exemplary embodiments, thelocal advertisement server within a location receives advertisementsfrom the central advertisement network and rebroadcasts them toperipheral devices within that location. Advertising information may betracked and reported, e.g., for accounting, revenue-sharing, and/orother purposes in certain exemplary embodiments.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

Various advertising schemes have been developed over the years. Forexample, an early advertising scheme still used today involves printingadvertisements and recording information about the “impressions.”Impression information tends to reflect the subject matter of theadvertisement, the general audience targeted, the location whereprinted, etc. Another common advertising scheme involves insertingcommercials into television programming. Again, “impressions” about theadvertisement are recorded. An advertising technique that has gainedprominence in the Internet age has been banner and pop-up typeadvertisements. Impressions may be recorded, e.g., in the form ofcookies or the like, and sometimes may be reported back to a localserver. Based on these and/or other information, including demographic,taste, shopping habit, and/or other comparisons, it has sometimes beenpossible to attempt to more precisely target advertisements to users.

Unfortunately, such advertising techniques suffer several disadvantages.For example, it often is difficult to accurately record impressioninformation for printed advertisements and television commercials.Although it is possible to get an idea about the broad area and/oraudience covered, the time of day a spot was run, and generaldemographic information about neighborhoods and/or television viewers,it is difficult to capture more detailed and/or more precise impressioninformation. Banner and pop-up ads are able to gather more informationabout a user and/or a user's computer. However, the information stillmay be limited based on privacy settings set by the user and/ortechnical challenges related to the network- based connections.Moreover, such advertisements typically are limited to exposure on apersonal computer.

There are also problems associated with the effect of advertisements onusers. Oftentimes, printed advertisements are simply discarded.Television commercials increasingly are being ignored or completelyskipped (e.g., through the proliferation of digital video recorders and“TV on DVD” style offerings). More recently, banner and pop-up ads tendto be viewed as intrusive and a violation of privacy. Accordingly,numerous attempts have been made to try to filter or reduce theappearance of banner and pop-up ads on computers. Unsolicited emailmessages have been labeled “spam,” are subject to email client filters,and even have been the subject of several bills sponsored in both housesof the U.S. Congress.

In view of the above, a further problem exists in that although digitaladvertisement distribution techniques present a better chance ofreaching potential customers in new and engaging ways while alsoallowing advertisers to gather more detailed impression information,they tend to be subject to more criticism and to technology-basedfiltering.

Therefore, it will be appreciated that there is a need in the art forimproved digital advertisement distribution techniques. It also will beappreciated that there is a need in the art for systems and/or methodsfor distributing advertisements from a central advertisement network toone or more peripheral devices at a location via a local advertisementserver.

One aspect of certain exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relates toa local advertisement server located in an out-of-home (OOH) locationand connected to a central advertising network being configured to causeadvertisements to be displayed on a peripheral device.

Another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to a peripheraldevice for use in an out-of-home location configured to display ads froma local advertisement server connected to a central advertising network.

Still another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to amethod of displaying advertisements on a peripheral device connected toa local server in an out-of-home location.

Yet another aspect of certain exemplary embodiments relates to anadvertising system including a local advertisement server, the localadvertisement server being located in an out-of-home location and beingconnected to a central advertising network such that it is configured tocause advertisements to be displayed on a peripheral device.

In certain exemplary embodiments, a local advertisement server isprovided. A network connection to a central advertising network locatedremote from the local advertisement server is provided. A storagelocation is configured to store an advertisement database, with theadvertisement database including advertisements received from thecentral advertising network via the network connection along withcontent control data associated with each said advertisement. A localconnection to one or more peripheral devices located in the samelocation as the local advertisement server is provided. A displaycontroller is configured to cause the one or more peripheral devicesconnected to the local advertisement server via the local connection todisplay at least some of the advertisements received from the centraladvertising network in dependence on the content control data associatedwith the advertisements.

In certain exemplary embodiments, an advertisement system or networkcomprising a plurality of such local advertisement servers is provided,with each said local advertisement server being located at a differentlocation.

In certain exemplary embodiments, an advertising method for providing aplurality of electronic advertisements to peripheral display devicesdistributed across a plurality of locations is provided. A plurality oflocal advertisement servers are provided, with each said localadvertisement server being located at a different location. A centraladvertising network located remote from the local advertisement serversis provided. At least some electronic advertisements are distributedfrom the central advertising network to the local advertisement serversvia network connections provided to the respective local advertisementservers. Advertisement databases are stored via storage locationsprovided to the respective local advertisement servers, with theadvertisement databases including electronic advertisements receivedfrom the central advertising network via the respective networkconnection along with content control data associated with each saidelectronic advertisement. At each said local advertisement server, atleast one advertisement queue is maintained. Each said local serverfurther comprises a display controller configured to cause anyperipheral display devices connected thereto to display at least some ofthe electronic advertisements received from the central advertisingnetwork in dependence on the content control data associated with theelectronic advertisements and the respective at least one advertisementqueue. Each said electronic advertisement is one of a leader board,banner, or media clip. The content control data for each electronicadvertisement comprises indications of how and when the associatedelectronic advertisement should be displayed.

These aspects and exemplary embodiments may be used separately and/orapplied in various combinations to achieve yet further embodiments ofthis invention. Additionally, the exemplary embodiments described hereinmay be implemented as any suitable combination of programmed logiccircuitry (e.g., as any suitable combination of hardware, software,firmware, and/or the like). In certain exemplary embodiments, computerreadable storage mediums also may be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the instantinvention will be further understood by review of the following detaileddescription of the exemplary embodiments when read in conjunction withthe appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative simplified system view of a centraladvertisement network in connection with a plurality of local ad serversrespectively located at a plurality of locations, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative simplified view of a location including alocal ad server and a plurality of devices to which ads from the adserver will be distributed, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram showing components comprising alocal ad server, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram showing components comprising adevice to which ads from the ad server will be distributed, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative display showing how advertising content may beincluded with main content, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows illustrative transmission data associated with a new devicebeing connected to a local ad server or an already connected devicebeing updated, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows illustrative transmission data associated with a new adbeing sent from the central advertisement network to a local server, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows illustrative reporting data that may be sent from a localserver to the central advertisement network, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for setting up anew location in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for updatinginformation about a location in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for distributingadvertisements to a location from a central advertisement network inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for distributingadvertisements from a local ad server at a location to peripheraldevices in that location in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for reportingdata to the central advertisement network in accordance with anexemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Certain exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to systems and/ormethods for distributing advertisements from a central advertisementnetwork to one or more peripheral devices at a location via a localadvertisement server. In certain exemplary embodiments, a localadvertisement server within a location receives advertisements from thecentral advertisement network and rebroadcasts them to peripheraldevices within that location. Advertising information may be tracked andreported, e.g., for accounting, revenue-sharing, and/or other purposesin certain exemplary embodiments. Thus, in certain exemplaryembodiments, the distribution of advertisements is provided toperipherals via a non-web- and non-PC-dependent network. Moreover, incertain exemplary embodiments, reporting and advertising relatedcommunications are substantially bi-directional regardless of devicetype. This, it is possible in certain exemplary embodiments to record“impressions” of digital advertisements, including information such as,for example, when the advertisement was “printed,” where theadvertisement was “printed,” who saw the advertisement, etc. It is alsopossible in certain exemplary embodiments to provide revenue sharingamong some or all of the central advertising network provider, theproprietors of locations, operators tasked with maintaining the local adserver and/or the peripheral devices, etc.

1. Exemplary System Components

This section provides an overview of exemplary system components thatmay be used in connection with certain exemplary embodiments. Forexample, this section provides an overview of the overall advertisementdistribution system, local ad servers, and peripheral devices. Ofcourse, it will be appreciated that the following descriptions areprovided by way of example and without limitation. Thus, for example,other techniques apart from those described herein may be used inconnection with the exemplary embodiments described herein, as mayvarious combinations and sub-combinations of the exemplary techniquesdescribed herein.

1.1 Exemplary System Overview

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 is anillustrative simplified system view of a central advertisement networkin connection with a plurality of local ad servers respectively locatedat a plurality of locations, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.The central advertisement network 100 is connected to the local adservers 104 a-c, which are respectively located at locations 102 a-c,via a plurality of respective connections 101 a-c. The connections 101a-c may be, for example, Internet connections, WAN connections, etc. Thecentral advertisement network 100 includes a database (not shown) ofadvertisements that are distributable to the local ad servers 104 a-c atthe locations 102 a-c. The advertisements stored in the database ofadvertisements may be categorized in various ways. For example, theadvertisements may be categorized by product and/or service type; thetype of advertisement (e.g., a leader board, banner, media clip, audioclip, video clip, etc.); the devices on which the ad should be displayed(e.g., only on televisions, only on jukeboxes, only for registeredusers, on handheld gaming machines and countertop boxes but nottelevisions, etc.), and/or in other ways.

The central advertisement network 100 also is configured to receivereporting information from the local ad servers 104 a-c providing, forexample, information related to the respective locations 102 a-c, theadvertisements shown, etc. Based on this information features such asrevenue sharing, advertisement targeting, etc., may be provided. Furtherdetails of the reporting between the local ad servers 104 a-c and thecentral advertisement network 100 will be provided in further detailbelow.

1.2 Exemplary Local Advertisement Server

Within each location 102, a local ad server is configured to communicatewith a plurality of local devices 106 operably connected thereto. Thus,in general, a local ad server 104 is configured to receiveadvertisements from the central advertisement network 100 and is furtherconfigured to cause such advertisements to be displayed on one or morelocal devices 106 operably connected thereto. FIG. 2 is an illustrativesimplified view of a location including a local ad server and aplurality of devices to which ads from the ad server will bedistributed, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As noted above,there is a connection 101 from the central advertisement network 100 tothe local ad server 104 in the location 102. Within the location 102,the local ad server 104 may be connected to the local devices on whichthe advertisements are to be displayed in any appropriate manner. Asshown in FIG. 2, the local devices (also sometimes called peripheraldevices) include televisions 202 a-b, a jukebox 204, countertop devices206 a-b (e.g., bar-top game devices, jukebox terminals, and/or thelike), handheld gaming devices 208 a-b, and user peripheral devices 210a-b (e.g., laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, and/or the like). Of course,other peripheral devices may be operably connected to the local adserver 104. In certain example implementations, the local ad server 104is connected to the televisions 202 a-b via a wired connection 203,which may be, for example, a composite audio/video, componentaudio/video, coax, HDMI, S-video, F-pin, and/or any other suitable typeconnection. In certain example implementations, the local ad server 104is connected to the jukebox 204 and the countertop devices 206 a-b via anetwork connection 205 (e.g., an Ethernet network connection). Incertain example implementations, the local ad server 104 may include awireless transceiver 105, e.g., to communicate with wirelesstransceivers 209 a-b of the handheld gaming devices 208 a-b,respectively, and the wireless transceivers 211 a-b of the userperipheral devices 210 a-b, respectively. As will be described ingreater detail below, the communications between the local ad server 104and the peripheral devices within the location 102 may occur over apredefined protocol and/or may include one- or two-way transmission ofdata depending on the use case involved. It will be appreciated thatother peripheral devices may be included in a location together with orin place of some or all of those shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram showing components comprising alocal ad server, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. A data bus302 and a processor 304 facilitate the processing of data including, forexample, the receiving of new advertisements from the centraladvertising network 100 via an advertising network connection 306, thecausing of such advertisements to be displayed on the peripheral devicesvia a local network connection 308, etc. As noted earlier, the localnetwork connection 308 may be an Ethernet connection or any othersuitable connection (e.g., a LAN, WAN, wireless, infrared, dial-up, orother connection). Similarly, the advertising network connection 306 maybe an Ethernet connection or any other suitable connection (e.g., a LAN,WAN, wireless, infrared, dial-up, or other connection). Theseconnections therefore may facilitate the sending of information from thelocal ad server 104 to the central advertisement network 100 including,for example, information about the location, peripheral devices at thelocation, users frequenting and/or using the peripheral devices at thelocation, etc. Similarly, these connections may facilitate the sendingof information from the local ad server 104 to the peripheral devicesincluding, for example, the advertisements and associated data, logfiles, etc.

Advertisements sent from the central advertising network 100 andreceived by the local ad server 104 via the central ad networkconnection 306 may be stored in an advertisement database 310 or othersuitable storage location of or associated with the local ad server 104(e.g., on a disk drive device, flash media, USB device, in a memorylocation, etc.). Advertisements in the advertisement database 310 of thelocal ad server 104 may be in the form of, for example, leader boards,banners, audio/video media clips, audio clips, video clips, etc., andthus may be stored in any suitable format (e.g., as image files, movingGIFs, MPEG-2 or other format video files, Flash media, MP3 audio, etc.).In addition to the data file(s) corresponding to the advertisements,additional information associated with the advertisements also may bestored. For example, a unique identifier of the advertisement may bestored, as may the type or format of advertisement, and/or other contentcontrol data (e.g., when the ad should be played, how often it should beplayed, appropriate audience information, priority information,associations with particular songs, games, or web or televisionprogramming, etc.).

The local ad server 104 also may maintain a listing of connecteddevices, for example, in a device database 312 or other suitable storagelocation. Such a device database 312 may include all of the peripheraldevices located in the particular location to which advertisements areto be distributed. It will be appreciated that certain types ofperipheral devices may not be able to display certain types ofadvertisements. For example, a jukebox may be able to display audioand/or video advertisements, whereas a handheld gaming device may onlybe able to support banners and/or leader boards. Thus, along with such alisting of connected devices, information such as the types ofadvertisements displayable on the list may be displayed. Similarly, aperipheral devices may not include a dedicated storage location of itsown for storing ads to be displayed, for maintaining queues of ads to bedisplayed, for maintaining log files, etc. For example, a television maynot include its own storage location, whereas a user peripheral devicemay include its own storage location. Accordingly, such information maybe stored in the device database 312 (e.g., as flags indicative of thecorresponding features). Certain exemplary embodiments may, in turn,read and interpret such flags and accordingly maintain queues, logfiles, etc., on behalf of the particular devices incapable ofmaintaining their own queues, log files, etc.

As alluded to above, one or more log files 314 may be stored on thelocal ad server 104. A first type of log file may log information aboutcommunications between the central advertisement network 100 and thelocal ad server 104 related to the distribution of advertisements. Forexample, such a log file may log successful transmissions ofadvertisements from the central advertisement network 100 to the localad server 104 along with a time/date stamp of the beginning and/or endof the transfer, and/or other information pertaining to such transfers.A second type of log file may log information about communicationsbetween the peripheral devices and the local ad server 104 related toadvertisement-based reporting. Such log files may identify theadvertisements played, the time of the playing, the device on which itwas played, any events associated with the play (e.g., whether a songwas playing, a television station was being shown, etc.), informationabout the particular customer using the device (e.g., when the user hasregistered, demographic information about the registered user may belogged, etc.), and/or the like. A third type of log file may logtransmissions of the second type of log file (e.g., information relatedto advertisement-based reporting) between the local ad server 104 andthe central advertisement network 100. Some or all of these log files314 may be updated via the local ad server 104 or via the peripheraldevices connected thereto.

It will be appreciated that the advertisement database 310, the devicedatabase 312, and/or the log files 314 may be encrypted. Such encryptionmay reduce the chances of a user tampering with the distribution ofadvertisements, reporting erroneous advertisement plays, etc. This maybe advantageous in certain exemplary embodiments, for example, whenrevenue is shared based on advertising activities of the location, foraccounting to advertisers, for ensuring that proper paid-foradvertisements are not replaced with other unpaid-for advertisements,etc.

The local ad server 104 also may be connected to a media source 315. Themedia source 315 may be, for example, a television antenna, a cable orsatellite connection, a DVD or other media player, etc. In such a case,the local ad server 104 may be configured to include advertisementmaterial directly into the media stream from the media source 315. Thatis, the ad server 104 may add layers of advertisements (e.g., banners,leader boards, other advertisements) to the original media stream, mayinsert media content (e.g., video clips, pictures, slide shows, etc.) inthe place of normal commercials included in the broadcast, may shrink orotherwise transform the media stream so as to add advertising contentaround the edges of the media stream, etc. An illustrative arrangementfor the layering and/or insertion is described below, e.g., withreference to FIG. 5. A media-out port 316 may then distribute themodified content to the appropriate peripheral(s), e.g., via an Ethernetconnection, a connection suitable for a television, etc.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, one or more queues of advertisements fordisplay on the peripherals may be maintained by the local ad server 104.For example, one master queue may be maintained in certain exemplaryembodiments such that advertisements are synchronized throughout allconnected peripherals, e.g., causing all peripherals to display a commonadvertisement, a common advertisement type, common advertisement subjectmatter, different advertisements, advertisements are displayed in around-robin format, etc. Multiple queues also may be maintained incertain exemplary embodiments, e.g., such that one queue is maintainedfor each peripheral device, one queue is maintained for each peripheraldevice type, etc. The peripherals may consult this queue or these queueswhen displaying advertisements, or the local ad server 104 itself mayinstruct the peripheral devices to display advertisements in accordancewith the queue or queues.

Although the local ad server 104 has been described as relating to aseparate component, it will be appreciated that a local ad servercomprising programmed logic circuitry may be integrated into or includedin another component, possibly even a peripheral device. Thus, incertain exemplary embodiments, a local ad server may be integrated intoor included in, for example, a jukebox, a countertop device, etc.Indeed, the peripheral device itself may be used solely foradvertisements, and/or for advertisements and/or another moreconventional function (e.g., the peripheral devices may be used forpurposes other than advertising in some cases). In such cases, the localad server may be implemented as described herein, e.g., as any suitablecombination of programmed logic circuitry including, for example, anysuitable combination of hardware, software, firmware, and/or the like.The components may be shared with or separate from the underlyingperipheral device. For example, a common storage location may be used,separate logical partitions of a common storage location may be used, orseparate storage locations may be provided. Similarly, the same ordifferent network connections may be provided (e.g., a single networkconnection in a jukebox, for example, may serve as a connection to anaudiovisual distribution network and/or to the central advertisementnetwork). Similarly, in certain exemplary embodiments, the same ordifferent processors may be used. Furthermore, in certain exemplaryembodiments where a local server is built into a digital jukebox device,the digital jukebox device may be configured to retrieve instances ofmedia for playback via a central audiovisual network, with the centralaudiovisual network being the same network as the central advertisingnetwork.

1.3 Exemplary Peripheral Devices

A wide variety of peripheral devices may be used in connection with thead servers of certain exemplary embodiments. For example, a peripheraldevice according to certain exemplary embodiments may include programmedlogic circuitry (e.g., any suitable combination of hardware, software,firmware, and/or the like) for receiving advertisements from a local adserver and for displaying such advertisements. In such exemplaryembodiments, the advertisement may be transmitted to the device andstored in a storage location or database and played back later, and/orstreamed for substantially direct playback. The correspondingfunctionality may be included in the peripheral device directly (e.g.,through the addition of a new software module or based on the originalequipment manufacturer design). Such exemplary embodimentsadvantageously may be used in connection with, for example, countertopdevices, jukeboxes, handheld gaming devices, etc.

In another example, a peripheral device according to certain exemplaryembodiments may include programmed logic circuitry for interrupting thenormal flow of content to insert advertisements from a local ad server.In such cases, an additional component may be provided to the displayperipheral to interrupt the normal flow of media. For example,programmed logic circuitry may be interposed between a video displaycard and an actual display, e.g., to capture the video display signalsgenerated by the video display card and to modify the signals so as toinclude the content accordingly before sending the modified signals tothe actual display. Thus, it may be possible in certain exemplaryembodiments to add layers, insert content, reformat displays, etc., inorder to include custom advertising content from a local ad server. Suchexemplary embodiments advantageously may be used in connection with, forexample, countertop devices, jukeboxes, handheld gaming devices,televisions, etc.

In still other examples, e.g., in the case of a television or otherunintelligent display, programmed logic circuitry may be provided to theperipheral to stream in and play back already modified content which maybe, for example, content with custom advertisements inserted ascommercials, as layers over the broadcast, etc. Thus, the normal flow ofcontent will already be modified before reaching the peripheral devicefor playback.

In yet other examples, users using devices may be prompted to registerthemselves. Based on this information, ads may be displayed directly tothe peripheral device. Thus, registered users may essentially “invite”advertisements, e.g., when viewing web pages, logging onto to theInternet from a particular location, playing a game at a location on auser's own device, etc. Moreover, by registering or at least by beingidentified (e.g., as a user on a jukebox, a player of a game on acountertop device, etc.), additional content in the form ofadvertisements may add to the expected user experience. The additionalcontent may be, for example, customized advertisements (e.g., ads thatincorporate personal information such as name and/or age, adsspecifically targeted for an individual selected based on a model forexample, ads for products or services a person is or seems to beinterested in, etc.). The additional content also may be extraadvertising content that ordinarily would not be expected. For example,pop-up advertisements, banners, movie clips, and/or the like may bedisplayed at a time when the user does not expect them to appear (e.g.,when a user is selecting a song on a jukebox, in between levels of agame, in small windows of a handheld device, etc.). It is also possibleto provide other types of additional advertising content to users,regardless of whether they are registered and/or identified.

Thus, it is possible to provide the advertising techniques of certainexemplary embodiments on both interactive and non-interactiveperipherals. Moreover, as explained in greater detail below, interactivedevices may enable further custom delivery of advertisements, e.g., toregistered and/or tracked users.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram showing components comprising adevice to which ads from the ad server will be distributed, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. A data bus 402 and a processor404 facilitate the processing of data including, for example, thereceiving of new advertisements from the local ad server 104 via anlocal network connection 406, the causing of such advertisements to bedisplayed on displays of the peripheral device 106, etc. As above, thelocal network connection 406 may be an Ethernet connection or any othersuitable connection (e.g., a LAN, WAN, wireless, infrared, dial-up, orother connection).

The peripheral device with ad server support 106 may include a localadvertisement database 410. The local advertisement database 410 maystore advertisements to be displayed on the peripheral device 106received from the local server 104. Information about when the ad shouldbe displayed, the frequency for display, events that trigger the ad,etc., may be stored in the local advertisement database 410. Anadvertisement queue 414 may be included in the local advertisementdatabase 410 or it may be a separate component.

The advertisement queue 414 may facilitate the ordering ofadvertisements for playback. It may be based on information associatedwith the advertisements stored in the local advertisement database 410,ultimately traceable back to the central advertisement network 100. Theordering may be based on, for example, the amount an advertiser has paidfor the advertisement to be displayed, events triggering a particularadvertisement (e.g., every time a particular song is played on ajukebox, an associated advertisement might be displayed), absolute timesof days in which ads should be played (e.g., an advertisement may besetup for playback at a particular time every day or on certain days,etc.), and/or based on other factors. The advertisement queue 414 alsomay be organized as a playlist of advertisements. Such a playlist ofadvertisements may be integrated into or associated a playlist ofinstances of media, e.g., on a jukebox in certain exemplary embodiments.Advertisements also may be scheduled using the same or similartechniques, with such scheduling being accomplished by an advertiser, aproprietor of a location, etc.

One or more logs 412 may be kept and/or stored on the local peripheraldevice 106. A first type of log corresponds to data pertaining toupdates from the local ad server. For example, the success or failure ofa particular advertisement update may be stored, as may the particularadvertisements updated, the date/time of the update, etc. A second typeof log pertains to the actual playback of advertisements. For example,an identifier of the advertisement may be logged, along with thedate/time of the playback, the number of playbacks, an event associatedwith the playback, etc.

A local ad server may be updatable remotely and/or in person. In theformer case, remote downloads may be scheduled as described in greaterdetail below. In the latter case, updating may be done by a travelingoperator, using, for example, a storage device such as a USB device,flash media, CD or DVD, etc. Similarly, the transmission of log filesalso be take place remotely and/or by a traveling operator. In general,then, transmissions (e.g., log file transmissions, advertisementupdates, etc.) may be performed substantially in real-time, in batch ata scheduled or forced or other time (e.g., when a dial-up connection isused), in person, etc.

The local peripheral device 106 also may include display programmedlogic circuitry 408. In certain exemplary embodiments, the displayprogrammed logic circuitry 408 simply may integrate the advertisement tobe played back into the normal content. For example, a webpage or videostream may be modified, a game screen may be reformatted, etc. Incertain exemplary embodiments, the display programmed logic circuitry408 may temporarily interrupt the normal flow of a stream to playbackthe advertisement, e.g., by replacing standard commercial content, bypausing a game or instance of media queued for playback on a device,etc. In still other exemplary embodiments, the display programmed logiccircuitry 408 may be integrated into the peripheral device 106 such thatthe playback of advertisements is substantially seamless and integratedinto the main content in a manner transparent to the user.

As alluded to above, peripheral devices may be used to provideinteractions with advertisements. Thus, an advertisement may be changedbased on user interaction with the peripheral device. In one exemplaryimplementation, a display on a suitably configured device may display anadvertisement. The display may invite or prompt the user of the deviceor those capable of viewing the display to take an action, e.g., send atext message (e.g., an SMS message), email an address, select an area ofthe display, etc. The input may be processed by the local ad serverdirectly or indirectly (e.g., input may be processed by the peripheraldevice and log files about the interaction may later be shared with thelocal ad server and/or the central advertising network) to bring about aparticular result. The inputs to the advertisement may cause, forexample, responders to be entered into a drawing or giveaway (e.g., a“text to win” scenario), free credits for plays on a jukebox to bedispensed (e.g., credited to a user account or directly to a user via arewards card or other payment device, etc.), songs to be moved up inqueue based on voting, various similar or different commercial productsor services to be ranked (e.g., colas, beers, vacuums, etc.), discountsto be applied to products (e.g., that finish first in a voting contest),coupons to be dispensed, etc. In other words, the advertisements may bedisplayed in response to input provided, directly or indirectly, by aperson to whom the electronic advertisements is targeted. The displayedadvertisements themselves may be changed in dependence on the input. Forexample, advertisements for more highly ranked products may be displayedmore often, popular advertisements may be displayed more frequently,etc.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative display showing how advertising content may beincluded with main content, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.Certain exemplary embodiments create a new display 500 that includes themain content 502 as well as advertising content. In the example shown inFIG. 5, first and second advertising content 504 and 506 are included inthe new display 500. The first and second advertising content 504 and506 may be added as layers over top of the main content 502 in certainexemplary embodiments, whereas the first and second advertising content504 and 506 may be added around shrunken down main content 502 incertain other exemplary embodiments. It will be appreciated that themain content 502 may be reduced in one dimension so as to permit theaddition of content in that dimension whereas other content may beoverlaid onto existing content in another dimension. It also will beappreciated that although two advertising content sections are shown,the present invention is not limited to only two advertising contentsections or the respective formats thereof For example, in certainexemplary embodiments, a single advertising area may be substantiallysquare-shaped and may be displayed opaquely or semi-transparently oversome or all of the main content 502.

In certain exemplary embodiments, if a connection to the centraladvertisement network is temporarily lost or damaged, the local adserver may at least temporarily store information for latertransmission. Similarly, if a connection between the peripherals and thelocal ad server is temporarily lost or damaged, the peripherals may atleast temporarily store information for later transmission. This mayoccur before, during, and/or after real-time and/or scheduledtransmissions of log files, and the central advertisement network, localad server, and/or peripheral devices may anticipate such outages and/orrespond to them in one or more of the techniques set forth herein and/orin other ways, e.g., to ensure that data is transmitted as appropriate.In a case where storage is not provided to a peripheral device, aperipheral device operably connected thereto may at least temporarilyserve as a local ad server, serving advertisements and/or storing data.This may take place until the connection is repaired or reestablished.In this and/or other ways, certain exemplary embodiments provide a localad server that it operable over a non-web-dependent and/or non-PCdependent network. Moreover, communications are substantiallybi-directional regardless of device type, insofar as data may be loggedand advertisements distributed in dependence on a central coordinatinglocal ad server. Similarly, in certain example implementations, if thelocal ad server is damaged, one or more of the peripheral devices may beconfigured to communicate directly with the central advertisementnetwork.

2. Exemplary Data Transmissions

This section provides examples of the types of information that may beincluded in communications between, for example, the centraladvertisement network 100 and the local ad server 104, and between alocal ad server 104 and a peripheral device. More particularly, FIG. 6shows illustrative transmission data associated with a new device beingconnected to a local ad server or an already connected device beingupdated, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment; FIG. 7 showsillustrative transmission data associated with a new ad being sent fromthe central advertisement network to a local server, in accordance withan exemplary embodiment; and FIG. 8 shows illustrative reporting datathat may be sent from a local server to the central advertisementnetwork, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

2.1 Illustrative New/Updated Device Transmission Data

Referring more particularly to FIG. 6, new device/device updatetransmission data 600 may be sent from a peripheral to a local ad server104, and/or from a local ad server 104 once it has been received to thecentral advertisement network 100. A new peripheral connected in asuitably configured location may automatically (e.g., without directuser prompting) transmit such information in certain exemplaryembodiments. In certain exemplary embodiments, a user may input suchinformation into a local ad server 104, e.g., using a user interfaceprovided thereto. The new device/device update transmission data 600includes a device id 602, which uniquely identified the device that hasbeen added to the location or has been updated (e.g., been upgraded tobe able to process further advertisement types, communicate over awireless connection instead of a wired connection, etc.). The devicetype 604 also is specified. The device type 604 may be indicative of atelevision, a jukebox, a countertop device (e.g., a bar-top game device,a jukebox terminal, and/or the like), a handheld gaming device, a userperipheral device (e.g., a laptop, a mobile phone, a PDA, and/or thelike), etc. The ad types supported 606 also may be specified. In certainexemplary embodiments, this information may be at least partiallypopulated automatically (e.g., as mobile phones are capable ofsupporting SMS messages, televisions are capable of supporting videoplayback, jukeboxes are capable of supporting audio content, etc.).

A flag for indicating whether the peripheral includes its own storagelocation 608 may be set to indicate whether advertisements may or shouldbe sent to the peripherals, e.g., in advance of when they should beplayed back. If the flag 608 indicates that the peripheral includes itsown storage location, content may be distributed, in whole or in part,to the peripheral some time before it is to be displayed. If the flag608 indicates that the peripheral does not include its own storagelocation, the local ad server 104 may only distribute advertisements tothe peripheral device when it is to be displayed (e.g., when acommercial is to be replaced, when a new banner is to be displayed on awebpage, etc.).

A flag for indicating whether the peripheral maintains its own queue 610may be set to indicate whether the peripheral itself will or shouldmaintain its own queue of advertisements. If the flag 610 indicates thatthe peripheral will maintain its own queue, the queue may be configuredby the local ad server 104 once or periodically and left to theperipheral for actual real-time management. If the flag 610 indicatesthat the peripheral will not or should not maintain its own queue, aqueue may be set up on the local ad server 104 itself, or the peripheraldevice may be tagged so that it controlled in accordance with a masterqueue maintained by the local ad server 104.

A flag for indicating whether the peripheral maintains its own logs 612may be set to indicate whether the peripheral itself will or shouldmaintain its own log files. If the flag 612 indicates that theperipheral will maintain its own logs, the peripheral will or shouldmaintain its own logs and the local ad server 104 will periodically oraperiodically retrieve such logs. If the flag 612 indicates that theperipheral will not or should not maintain its own logs, the local adserver 104 will maintain log files on behalf of the peripheral device.This may require further communications between the peripheral deviceand the local ad server 104, or it may not if a queue is also maintainedby the local ad server 104 rather than the peripheral device.

2.2 Illustrative New Advertisement Transmission Data

Referring more particularly to FIG. 7, a new advertisement data 700 maybe sent from the central advertisement server 100 to a local ad server104, and/or from a local ad server 104 to a peripheral device. The newadvertisement data 700 may include the advertisement content 702 itselfThe advertisement content 702 may be in any appropriate form, such as,for example, an image file, a moving GIF, an MPEG-2 or other formatvideo file, Flash media, MP3 audio, etc. A unique advertisement id 704may be included to help track plays and/or distribution of theassociated advertisement. The advertisement type 706 (e.g., leaderboard, banner, media clip, audio clip, video clip, etc.) also may bestored. This information may help the local ad server 104 determinewhich advertisements may be displayed on the peripheral devices, forexample, by enabling a comparison between the information from thenew/updated device transmission data 600 and the ad type 706 included inthe new advertisement transmission data 700. This may be accomplished byhaving the local ad server 104 filter and distribute advertisementsbased at least on advertisement type as appropriate, or by having theperipheral devices initiate requests for all suitable advertisementtypes.

The new advertisement transmission data 700 also may include contentcontrol data 708. Such content control data 708 may include informationsuch as, for example, when the advertisement should be played (e.g.,time of day, day of week, special events, special occasions, holidays,etc.), the frequency at which the advertisement should be played (e.g.,no more than X times per hour or per day, etc.), the audience for whichthe advertisement is appropriate (e.g., sports or music enthusiasts,persons over the age of 18 or 21, certain targeted demographicpopulations, etc.), priority information (e.g., the advertisement may beranked according to a numerical or other value and then inserted into aqueue or scheduled for playback in dependence on the priorityinformation, etc.), whether the advertisement is associated with aparticular event or occasion (e.g., every time a touchdown is scored, atthe top of every hour, whenever a bartender initiates a signal, etc.),and/or other similar information.

2.3 Illustrative Reporting Data

Referring more particularly to FIG. 8, reporting data 800 may be sentfrom a peripheral to a local ad server 104, and/or from a local adserver 104 to the central advertisement network 100. In certainexemplary embodiments, at least some of the reporting data 800 may besupplied by a peripheral device (e.g., data corresponding to theparticular advertisements displayed), while some of the information maybe provided by the local ad server 104 (e.g., data corresponding to thelocation, that may be irrelevant or unknown to the peripherals). Incertain exemplary embodiments, the data form the peripheral devices maybe included within or wrapped by data from the local ad server 104.

The reporting data 800 may include a location id 802 that uniquelyidentifies the location of the local ad server 104 and the peripheraldevices. The location id 802 may be user specified or assigned, e.g., bythe central advertisement network 100. Location demographic data 804also may be included in the reporting data 800. The location demographicdata 804 may include information about customers (e.g., average age orage range, racial makeup, typical composition, etc.), the type of venue(e.g., a bar, club, lounge, restaurant, hotel, etc.), the music playedor television watched (which may be detailed or summary information froma jukebox or television), revenue information (e.g., how much thelocation has grossed or netted in a particular night, how much money isgenerated from or dedicated to advertising, etc.), and/or otherinformation. The location demographic data 804 may be provided to thecentral advertisement network 100 only once, with every reportingtransmission, periodically (e.g., once a week, month, year, etc.), whenrequested by the central advertisement network 100, when initiated by auser at the location (e.g., to signal a significant change in one ormore categories), etc.

The reporting data 800 also may include detailed advertising data 806.The advertising data 806 may be grouped, e.g., by advertisement id,advertisement type, advertisement subject matter, etc.; it may beordered, e.g., by date/time, by advertisement id, by advertisementsubject matter, etc.; or it might not be so categorized or ordered. Theadvertising data 806 thus may include the advertisement id, as well asinformation as to when the advertisement was played (e.g., date/time,day of week, etc.), the device on which the advertisement was played,any content that was played when the advertisement was played (e.g., asong or television program, etc.), information about the customer (e.g.,when the customer is registered), etc.

3. Illustrative Use Cases

This section provides information related to several common use casesthat may arise during the operation of a local ad server. It will beappreciated that the following is provided by way of example and withoutlimitation. For example, other use cases may arise, and/or the use casesspecified below may be handled in similar and/or other ways.

3.1 Setting Up a New Location

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for setting up anew location in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. In step S902,the local ad server is setup. In step S904, information related to thelocation, clientele of the location, etc., is provided, e.g., to a userinterface provided to the local ad server. In step S906, the local adserver is configured to communicate with the central advertisementnetwork. This may involve configuring firewalls, setting up proxyservers, specifying a common day/time for updates, etc. Any peripheraldevices are setup in step S908. This may include installing programmedlogic circuitry for use with the peripheral devices (e.g., to configuredevices to communicate with the local ad server by, for example,installing a software module, providing a hardware module to interruptthe flow of content, etc.). The peripheral devices are then configuredto communicate with the local ad server in step S910. This may involveconfiguring wireless connections, providing information about theperipheral devices to the local ad server, etc. In step S912, theperipheral device information is provided to the central advertisementnetwork. The information provided in this use case may be updated asnecessary, e.g., in accordance with the following use case.

3.2 Updating Information About a Location

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for updatinginformation about a location in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.In step S1002, the user logs into local ad server. In step S1004, theuser identifies whether the location information or the peripheraldevice information is to be updated. In step S1006, the user providesupdated information about the location or existing device, or adds a newperipheral. It will be appreciated that a new peripheral may need to besetup at or before this point. This updated information is saved in stepS 1008, and it is communicated to the central advertisement network instep S1010. Thus, the system is dynamic in that more or fewer devicesmay be added and/or changed once a location is initially configured.

3.3 Distributing Advertisements to a Location

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for distributingadvertisements to a location from a central advertisement network inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment. In step S1102, the user causesthe local ad server to log into the central advertisement network. Instep S1104, the central advertisement network verifies that the local adserver is a genuine local ad server. This may be accomplished bychecking the location id, by checking a username and/or passwordcombination, etc. Any updates about the location are provided to thecentral advertisement network in step S1106. Any advertisement updatesare downloaded in step S1108. This step may further comprising filteringa catalog of available advertisements based on, for example, thelocation demographics, device types at the location, advertisement typessupported by the peripheral devices at the location, retrieving notpreviously downloaded or previously improperly retrieved (partial orcorrupted) advertisements, etc. Log files are updated in step S1110, andthe local ad server logs off of the central advertisement network instep S 1112.

3.4 Distributing Advertisements to Peripheral Devices within a Location

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for distributingadvertisements from a local ad server at a location to peripheraldevices in that location in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. InFIG. 12, it is determined whether an update to the peripheral devices isneeded in step S1202. This may be initiated by the local ad server(e.g., as a push of new information), by the peripheral devices (e.g.,as a pull of new information), in a according to a publish-and-subscribebehavior, at a particular predefined update time, based on a usertrigger, etc. Updates may include advertisement updates, updates to theprogrammed logic circuitry (e.g., software updates, firmware upgrades,etc.), and/or the like. If there are updates, in step S1204, they aredistributed to the peripherals based on, for example, device type,advertisement types supported, whether a user using a user peripheraldevice is a registered user, etc. Log files are updated in step S1206.

Additionally, a proprietor of a location may decide to filteradvertisements per area of a location and/or type of device. Forexample, certain advertisements may be appropriate for a bar area of ahotel's restaurant, but inappropriate for the hotel's lobby. Similarly,devices of a particular kind may be configured to receive different adsthan other devices. For example, more generally appealing and/ornon-offensive advertisements may be displayed on large televisiondisplays viewable by a large number of persons, but handheld devices ofa particular brand and/or that attract a certain demographic may beconfigured to receive a full panoply of different advertisements.

With respect to the registration of users, certain exemplary embodimentsmay maintain a database of registered users. Users may provide certaininformation (e.g., name, contact info, demographic info, etc.) to thelocation. In exchange, the user may be rewarded with credits, freeplays, coupons, free drinks, promotional material, entry into asweepstakes, etc. Advertisements may be further targeted to theregistered user, e.g., based on the information provided by the user,when the user logs into a device (e.g., a jukebox, a handheld gamingdevice, the user's own laptop, etc.). Moreover, the profile of theregistered user may be updated over time, for example, as the registereduser initiates more plays on a jukebox, plays more games on a countertopdevice, etc.

3.5 Reporting Advertising Information to the Central AdvertisementNetwork

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an illustrative process for reportingdata to the central advertisement network in accordance with anexemplary embodiment. In FIG. 13, it is determined whether a report tothe central advertisement network is needed in step S1302. This may beinitiated by the local ad server (e.g., as a push of new information),by the central advertisement network (e.g., as a pull of newinformation), in a according to a publish-and-subscribe behavior, at aparticular predefined update time, based on a user trigger, etc. If areport is needed, in step S1304, data is gathered from the peripherals.The data gathered may include advertisement data (e.g., as described inconnection with FIG. 8). The data from the peripherals may be organizedinto any predefined format, and additional information may be added bythe local ad server (e.g., with updates about the location, etc.), instep S1306. The organized data may be transmitted to the centraladvertisement network in step S1308.

4. Exemplary Revenue Sharing Techniques

It is possible to implement revenue sharing in connection with certainexemplary embodiments. Advertisers pay for their advertisements to bedistributed through the central advertisement network to a wide varietyof locations. Revenue may be shared between one or more of the centraladvertisement network provider, the proprietor of the location, and anyoperators tasked with the maintenance of the local ad servers and/or theperipheral devices. The sharing of revenue may be based on predefinedpercentages (e.g., the central advertisement network provider earns afirst percentage, the proprietor of the location earns a secondpercentage, and an operator earns a third percentage) or based on aformula or revenue sharing model. Such a revenue sharing model may takeinto account the number of advertisements shown (e.g., the moreadvertisements, the higher the percentage), the number of peripheraldevices on which advertisements are shown (e.g., the more peripherals,the higher the percentage), the number of locations and/or peripheralsmanaged by an operator (e.g., the more locations and/or peripherals, thehigher the percentage), and/or the like.

The calculation of revenues may be facilitated by the logging ofinformation and the transmission of such information to the centraladvertisement network. In particular, data may be logged to anaccounting database in connection with the central advertisementnetwork, and revenue sharing programmed logic circuitry in connectionwith the accounting database may interpret the stored data and calculatehow much revenue should be shared among whom. This revenue sharingprogrammed logic circuitry may run at predefined intervals, on theoccasion of predefined events, and/or when initiated by a user. Forexample, the revenue sharing programmed logic circuitry may calculaterevenue shares once a day, once a month, every time the centraladvertisement network communicates with one or more local ad servers,when new advertisements are distributed, etc. Once it is determined howrevenue should shared, the revenue may be disbursed (e.g., by directdeposit to a bank, by crediting an account, by sending a check, etc).The disbursement of revenues may be performed at a frequency the same asor different from the frequency at which the revenue sharing programmedlogic circuitry is executed. Thus, the revenue sharing scheme may, forexample, allow the central advertisement network provider, proprietorsof locations, operators, and/or advertisers to share backend profitsearned directly or indirectly based on an advertisement at a location.

A protocol may be implemented to track and provide rewards for suchadvertisements in certain exemplary embodiments. One known protocolalready has been developed by Zoom Media, and it may be used inconnection with certain exemplary embodiments.

Advertising on peripherals also may reduce the costs associated withpurchasing and/or maintaining the peripherals, e.g., when suchperipherals are allowed to operate in a “sponsored mode,” or other modewhere advertisements may be played along with the main content offering.In certain exemplary embodiments, it may be possible to turn on and offadvertisements and to adjust the pricing or subsidizing of suchperipherals in dependence on the amount of time the advertisements areon, the number of advertisements shown, the types of advertisementsshown, etc.

Certain exemplary embodiments may provide a mechanism for advertisers tovery precisely control the placements of their ads and/or where and howto make their “impressions.” For example, proprietors of a location mayprovide very detailed information about their locations, including, forexample, physical location (e.g., down to the intersection and/oraddress of a location), type of establishment (e.g., bar, restaurant,club, arcade, etc.), them of the establishment (e.g., hip-hop club, linedancing bar, Tex-Mex restaurant, etc.), type of music traditionallyplayed (e.g., rock music, hipster scene, jazz club, etc.), and/or otherinformation. Advertisers may define an advertising campaign, e.g., bydefining rules as to where and/or how to advertise, may select locationsindividually or in groups, etc. For example, an advertising campaign maybe setup within a geographic region, with a particular theme or type,combinations of the above and/or other features identified by alocation, etc. To these and/or other ends, an advertiser interface maybe configured to allow advertisers to define or redefine an advertisingcampaign by creating at least one rule specifying how and where anadvertisement should be run. The advertiser interface may be accessiblevia the central advertising network.

The amount charged to the advertiser may be based on the campaigndefined. The complexity of the campaign may help determine price (e.g.,more complex campaigns cost more). Also, the number and/or type of theimpressions also may help determine price. For example, based on actualhistorical and/or projected data about one or more selected locations,advertisements may be priced accordingly. The central advertisementnetwork may predict a certain number of total impressions, which maysometimes be further broken down by type of advertisement, peripheral onwhich the advertisement was displayed, etc. The user may then be chargedaccording to a fixed or sliding scale in dependence on the number of adsshown and/or predicted to be shown.

It will be appreciated that certain exemplary embodiments describedherein may be implemented as programmed logic circuitry (e.g., anysuitable combination of hardware, software, firmware, and/or the like).Also, the exemplary embodiments described herein, and/or componentsthereof, may be stored on a computer readable storage medium, e.g., asinstructions. It will be appreciated that the aspects and exemplaryembodiments may be used separately and/or applied in variouscombinations to achieve yet further embodiments of this invention.

While the preferred aspects of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed herein, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in theart that various changes and/or modifications can be made. Thus, thespecific description herein is meant to be exemplary only and is notintended to limit the invention beyond the terms of appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An advertisement system comprising a plurality oflocal advertisement servers, each said local advertisement server beinglocated at a different respective location, each said localadvertisement server comprising: a network connection to a networklocated remote from the respective local advertisement server andincluding a remote database storing advertisements according tocategories; a storage medium configured to store (a) advertisementsreceived from the remote database via the network connection (b) andcontent control data associated with each said advertisement; a localconnection to a plurality of electronic devices located in the samelocation as the respective local advertisement server, the plurality ofelectronic devices including at least one digital jukebox device and atleast one display device separate from the at least one jukebox device,wherein, for each of the plurality of electronic devices, a respectiveflag at the local advertisement server indicates whether the electronicdevice maintains its own advertisement queue on the electronic device orwhether the own advertisement queue for the electronic device ismaintained on the local advertisement server; an advertisement serveradvertisement queue stored to and maintained by the respective localadvertisement server; and one or more processors configured to: transmitlocation information about the location of the local advertisementserver that has the advertisement server advertisement queue to theremote database over the network, and responsive to the transmittedlocation information, receive advertisements selected fromadvertisements stored in the remote database; store the receivedadvertisements in the advertisement server advertisement queue;selectively distribute at least some of the advertisements received fromthe remote database and stored in the advertisement server advertisementqueue, to a plurality of other advertisement queues residing in, andusable by, multiple of the electronic devices based on respectivecapabilities thereof and based upon statuses of the respective flags atthe local advertisement server indicating whether a corresponding one ofthe electronic devices maintains its own advertisement queue on theelectronic device, each said other advertisement queue being programmedto aid the electronic device to which it is usable in displayingadvertisements thereon in a manner that corresponds with the contentcontrol data associated with the advertisements in the respective otheradvertisement queue; and cause electronic devices connected to therespective local advertisement server via the local connection that donot include their own other advertisement queues to display at leastsome of the advertisements received from the network based on theadvertisement server advertisement queue and in dependence on thecontent control data associated with those advertisements.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein each said advertisement is one of a leader board,banner, or media clip.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the contentcontrol data for each advertisement comprises indications of how andwhen the associated advertisement is to be displayed.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein each said local advertisement server further comprisesa plurality of log files including a first log file storing informationregarding the distribution of advertisements from the network to therespective local advertisement server, and a second log file storinginformation regarding the display of advertisements on devices connectedto the respective local advertisement server.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein each said local advertisement server further comprises a mediasource connection configured to receive media from an external mediasource, and wherein the one or more processor of each said localadvertisement server is further configured to combine, in apredetermined format, the advertisements with the media received fromthe external media source via the media source connection to create acombined signal, the combined signal being transmittable to at leastsome of the electronic devices for possible subsequent display.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the advertisement server advertisement queuefor each said local advertisement server includes an advertisement queuefor each of a plurality of different peripheral device types, the one ormore processors of each said local advertisement server being furtherconfigured to cause electronic devices connected thereto via the localconnection to display at least some of the advertisements received fromthe network in dependence on the content control data associated withthe advertisements and the associated advertisement queue.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein at least some of the local advertisement servers arebuilt into one collocated digital jukebox devices.
 8. The system ofclaim 7, wherein the local advertisement servers that are built intodigital jukebox devices share common processors and/or storage mediumswith one another.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the digital jukeboxdevices are configured to retrieve instances of media for playback viaan audiovisual network, the audiovisual network also being a source ofthe advertisements storable to the local advertisement servers.
 10. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein, for each said local advertisement server,the respective one or more processors is further configured to change ormodify the advertisements being displayed in response to input provided,directly or indirectly, by a person to whom the advertisement istargeted.
 11. The advertisement system according to claim 1, wherein theone or more processors of the local advertisement server is furtherconfigured to determine, for each of the electronic devices, whether theelectronic device is capable of maintaining its own advertisement queue;and, if it is determined that the electronic device is capable ofmaintaining its own advertisement queue, then performing saidselectively distributing, or, if it is determined that the electronicdevice is not capable of maintaining its own advertisement queue, thencausing the electronic device to display at least some of theadvertisements received from the network based on the advertisementserver advertisement queue and in dependence on the content control dataassociated with those advertisements.
 12. A local advertisement serverprovided at a venue, the local advertisement server comprising: at leastone processor and a memory; a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium configured to store advertisements received from a database in aremote network via a network connection, the database storingadvertisements according to categories; a local connection to aplurality of electronic devices located in the same venue as the localadvertisement server, the plurality of electronic devices including atleast one digital jukebox device and at least one display deviceunrelated to playback functionality of the at least one jukebox device,wherein, for each of the plurality of electronic devices, a respectiveflag at the local advertisement server indicates whether the electronicdevice maintains its own advertisement queue on the electronic device orwhether the own advertisement queue for the electronic device ismaintained on the local advertisement server; an advertisement serveradvertisement queue stored to and maintained by the local advertisementserver; and one or more processors configured to: transmit locationinformation about the location of the local advertisement server thathas the advertisement server advertisement queue to the remote databaseover the network, and responsive to the transmitted locationinformation, receive advertisements selected from advertisements storedin the remote database; store the received advertisements in theadvertisement server advertisement queue; selectively distribute atleast some of the advertisements received from the database in theremote network and stored in the advertisement server advertisementqueue, to a plurality of other advertisement queues residing in, andusable by, multiple of the electronic devices based on respectivecapabilities thereof and based upon statuses of the respective flags atthe local advertisement server indicating whether a corresponding one ofthe electronic devices maintains its own advertisement queue on theelectronic device, each said other advertisement queue being programmedto aid the electronic device to which it is usable in displayingadvertisements thereon in a manner that corresponds with content controldata associated with the advertisements in the respective otheradvertisement queue; and cause electronic devices connected to the localadvertisement server via the local connection that do not include theirown other advertisement queues to display at least some of theadvertisements received from the network based on the advertisementserver advertisement queue and in dependence on content control dataassociated with those advertisements.
 13. The server of claim 12,wherein each said advertisement is one of a leader board, banner, ormedia clip.
 14. The server of claim 12, wherein the content control datafor each advertisement comprises indications of how and when theassociated advertisement is to be displayed.
 15. The server of claim 12,further comprising a plurality of log files including a first log filestoring information regarding the distribution of advertisements fromthe network to the local advertisement server, and a second log filestoring information regarding the display of advertisements on devicesconnected to the local advertisement server.
 16. The server of claim 12,further comprising a media source connection configured to receive mediafrom an external media source, and wherein the display controller isfurther configured to combine, in a predetermined format, theadvertisements with the media received from the external media sourcevia the media source connection to create a combined signal, thecombined signal being transmittable to at least some of the electronicdevices for possible subsequent display.
 17. The server of claim 12,wherein the advertisement server advertisement queue includes anadvertisement queue for each of a plurality of different peripheraldevice types, the display controller being further configured to causeelectronic devices connected thereto via the local connection to displayat least some of the advertisements received from the network independence on the content control data associated with theadvertisements and the associated advertisement queue.
 18. The server ofclaim 12, wherein the local advertisement server is built into onecollocated digital jukebox device.
 19. The server of claim 18, whereinthe local advertisement server shares processing resources with thedigital jukebox device into which it is built.
 20. The server of claim12, wherein the display controller is further configured to change ormodify the advertisements being displayed in response to input provided,directly or indirectly, by a person to whom the advertisement istargeted.